


Our Little Secret

by TanninTele



Series: TanninTele One-Shots [6]
Category: A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Screenplay/Script Format, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 20:33:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14268987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TanninTele/pseuds/TanninTele
Summary: Before catching a ride to New Orleans on a streetcar named Desire, Blanche taught English in southern Mississippi. Within the walls of her schoolroom, Blanche DuBois substitutes her grief for her dead husband onto a young schoolboy, catalysing her descent into madness.





	Our Little Secret

**_Our Little Secret_ **

**By TanninTele**

* * *

  _Disclaimer: All rights belong to Tennessee Williams, voiding that of original content and characters._

* * *

  _“I have the misfortune of being an English instructor. I attempt to instill a bunch of bobby-soxers and drug-store Romeos with a reverence for Hawthorne and Whitman and Poe! . . . And in the spring, it’s touching to notice them making their first discovery of love! As if nobody had ever known it before!”_

_\- Streetcar Named Desire (pg. 61-62)._

* * *

SETTING: 

_BLANCHE is alone at her desk. She idly shifts through papers, a desk lamp illuminating the documents. The bulb is covered with a pink lantern, casting the room into a rosy glow. The school room is bland and painted white, with little decoration. BLANCHE is just another pale ornament. The faint chirping of birds can be heard outside the blinded windows. The school is quiet, students having just left for the day, leaving only a few wayward souls to wander the halls._

_[A student, RICHARD knocks on the door, and tentatively steps into the empty schoolroom, shifting from foot to foot]_

 

_RICHARD_

You asked me to stay behind, Miss Dubois?

 

_BLANCHE_

Oh, yes. Mister Brown. Your last submission . . . the poem. You’re a very talented writer.

 

_RICHARD_

_(shyly)_

Thank you, Miss Dubois. I was inspired by -

 

_BLANCHE_

_(interrupting)_

Oh, yes! It was a lovely poem. Your imagery, the diction, the voice! Every poet has a voice, you know. Edgar Allan Poe; his stories were filled with tragedy and heartbreak. Walt Whitman wrote free verse, his words flowing off the page, as though you had insight into his very mind! And you. Your voice . . . is so familiar. Would you recite a poem, Richard? About me?

 

RICHARD

I . . . I suppose. 

 

_W . . .  with dove’s wings, she flutters into the sunset,_

_A sight I could never forget._

_Her hair a golden halo, a fallen angel, dressed in white._

_She_ _is a faded, rosy light._

 

BLANCHE

_[fans at her face]_

Is that . .  . _really_ what you think of me, Richard? Why, you’ll make me cry! Excuse me a moment.

 

_[she reaches under her desk for a flask of whisky, and two small glass cups.]_

 

BLANCHE

A touch of tonic, for the nerves. Tell me . . . how _old_ are you, Richard?

 

RICHARD

Seventeen, ma’am.

 

BLANCHE

Oh, the peak of manhood! You’re nearly of age, there’s no harm. A sip then, just between us. 

 

RICHARD

I really should be getting home . . .

 

BLANCHE

_(breathily)_

Leaving me again, are you? I _insist,_ really.

 

_[she pours him a cup, with shaky hands]_

 

RICHARD

Just . . . one?

 

BLANCHE

_(whispering)_

Oh, yes. It’ll be our little secret. May _I_ tell you a secret, Richard? Come around the desk.

 

RICHARD

_(tentatively taking the glass)_

If you want to . . .

 

BLANCHE

 _Oh,_ but I _do._ You remind me of someone, Richard. Someone dear to me. I was married once, did you know? I was young, foolish, hopelessly in love. It was the beginning of spring, saplings peeking out of the grass, the locust buzzing in the fields. I’ve always said that springtime is the best time of year for love . . . everything blooming, girls dressing their prettiest, boys flushing at the sight. It was a beautiful start . . . but . . . I was deluded. He was the sun to me, a steady, soft force that gave me _life_ . I took so much from him, leeching off his rays. I needed him _desperately_ , but he didn’t much need me. When the storm came, all I did was _wither_ , watching helplessly as the clouds hindered his light. With a clap of thunder, I realized the sun wouldn’t return . . . and I haven’t seen a light quite like him since.

 

_[she releases a gasping sob, hunching over the whiskey.]_

 

RICHARD

I’m here, Miss DuBois. I’m right here. D - don’t cry.

 

BLANCHE

_(chokes out a laugh)_

I know you hate it when I cry. Look at me, I’m a mess. Would you - would you turn off that lamp? It’s hurting my eyes.

 

_[RICHARD leans over the desk to turn off the lamp. The room is cast into utter darkness, her soft sobs still audible.]_

 

RICHARD

_(whispers)_

_She is a faded, rosy light . . ._

 

BLANCHE

_(grabs his hand, speaking quickly)_

Do you _like_ me, Richard? I see you staring at me, in class. And that poem . . . you must like me very much. I can’t see your face in the darkness, but . . . perhaps that’s for the best. Come a bit a closer. I’m suddenly very cold.

 

RICHARD

_(concerned)_

Ma’am? Perhaps you’re coming down with something.

 

BLANCHE

_(contemplatively)_

Perhaps I am. Please, don’t speak. Just . . . be with me. For a few moments more. How does it feel, when I touch you like this?

 

RICHARD

O - _oh._

 

_(both begin to breathe slowly and heavily.)_

 

TEACHER

_(offstage, flicks on the lights.)_

Miss DuBois, may I ask you  - _Miss Dubois!_ Is that a student?!

 

_[Moving quickly, fear and shame giving him speed, RICHARD flees the room, BLANCHE calling out to him]_

 

BLANCHE

_(wails)_

Allan! You _can’t leave_ _me_ , not again!

 

TEACHER

I’ll be telling the superintendent about this!

 

_[BLANCHE collapses her head into her arms, sobbing freely. The lights begin to dim.)_

 

TEACHER

_(distantly)_

This woman is morally unfit for her position!

_CURTAIN_

 


End file.
